Sarah, a 45 year old fitness exerciser, office manager and mother of two hungry teenage athletes, complained about cookie temptations. “I feel surrounded by my kids’ cookies; this makes it hard for me to lose weight. I inevitably end up eating as many as they do….”

When you are tired, stressed and surrounded by cookies (or other treats), the challenge of moderating your food intake increases. I suggest Sarah ask her kids for their support by keeping their snacks out of sight, such as in a cupboard, instead of on the kitchen counter, or in a ceramic cookie jar, rather than a see-through plastic container. She could also ask her kids to not eat cookies in front of her. As the saying goes: Out of sight, out of mind!

Some weight-conscious parents stop buying cookies altogether, believing their kids get plenty of sweets and treats outside of the home. You can discuss this option with your children, but recognize this approach fails to teach you how to come to peace with cookies. Will you simply binge-eat cookies the next time they do wander into your sight? (You know, “Last change to eat cookies, so I’d better eat them all now…!!!”)

The alternative is to allow yourself to eat one or two cookies every day at lunch or snack as a part of your calorie budget. This way, you do not feel denied or deprived, nor have you over-indulged. By planning this treat into your food plan, you may be better able to eat just one cookie at lunch--instead of the whole bag at night. Ultimately, fiding peace with cookies is more effective than taking them out of your diet.

If you need help with healthfully integrating cookies and treats into your food plan, consult with a sports dietitian. The referral network at www.SCANdpg.org can help you find a local expert.

Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD

Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics

When you are hungry and are in an unfamiliar town, you can waste a lot of time looking for someplace ‘good’ to eat. The alternative to driving up and down unknown streets is to use your iphone and look up www.goodfoodnearyou.com. You’ll get a handy list of the (primarily chain) restaurants in the area. Click on the restaurant-of-choice, and you’ll get a list of the healthiest menu options, as well as the calories and grams of carb, protein and fat in each menu selection. What a helpful tool when you are traveling to an event! No more fretting about how to optimize pre-event carbo-loading or enhance post-event refueling....

Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD

Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics

Here’s your chance to learn from two internationally known experts at this intensive workshop on Nutrition & Exercise.

--Sports nutritionist Nancy Clark MS, RD is reknowned for her work with counseling athletes and exercisers.

--Exercise physiologist William Evans PhD is highly respected for his research with protein, weight, and aging.

They will be offering a 1.5 day program in Providence and Boston, as well as other cities (see below), that is designed to help coaches, athletic trainers, exercise physiologists, sports nutritionists, sports medicine professionals as well as athletes themselves find answers to their questions about--

     -eating for health, enhanced performance and longevity

     -balancing carbs, protein and sports supplements

     -managing weight and eating disorders.

Please see  www.sportsnutritionworkshop.com for more details.

“I was surprised to learn new information on a topic I thought I knew so well.”

     --Registered dietitian/personal trainer, Seattle

Upcoming workshop dates:

PROVIDENCE          Aug 21-22, 2009

BOSTON/Peabody          Oct 2-3

TORONTO               Nov 13-14

BALTIMORE               Jan 15-16, 2010

NEWARK               Jan 29-30

PITTSBURGH          Feb 26-27

NEW YORK CITY          Mar 5-6

PHILADELPHIA          Mar 12-13

ONLINE HOME STUDY  Every day!                                         

The workshop is available as a home study if you cannot attend in person.

www.sportsnutritionworkshop.com

Some active moms were talking about this recipe on Twitter, and wondering where to find it. Rumor is, it’s one of the many tasty recipes in my Sports Nutrition Guidebook! (http://www.nancyclarkrd.com). Perhaps you would like to enjoy it as well.

Pasta with Turkey Sausage and White Beans

The recipe is versatile and allows for being creative: you can make it without the turkey sausage, without the beans, or with different protein sources, such as ground beef, diced chicken, tofu, or seafood.

When I make this, I remove the casing from the sausage by cutting it with a sharp knife and then scrambling the sausage meat. The alternative is to cook the sausage whole, then cut it into coins.

1 pound turkey sausage, casing removed

12 ounces uncooked pasta, such as shells, ziti, or rotini.

1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained

1 15-ounce can white canellini beans, drained

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed into

1 1/2 cups milk, low-fat

1/4 cup grated parmesan or romano cheese

Optional: 1 small onion, diced; 1-2 cloves garlic, minced; 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes; salt and pepper

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet and add the turkey sausage (and onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes) and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until done.

2. While the sausage is cooking, cook the pasta according to package directions; drain.

3. To the scrambled sausage, add the drained diced tomatoes and canellini beans. Heat through, then add the cornstarch-milk mixture. Stir until thickened, then add the parmesan cheese.

4. Add the cooked pasta; toss well and let set for a few minutes for the flavors to blend. Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper.

Yield: 5 large servings

Nutrition Information: Total calories: 2,500

Calories per serving: 500

Carbohydrate 75 g

Protein 25 g

Fat 11g

This is an exciting week in Boston! Thousands of runners are making their final preparations for the Boston Marathon. If you are one of those anxious marathon runners, here are a few words of nutrition wisdom.

--Don’t make any drastic dietary changes that might upset your intestinal tract. The biggest change should be in your training—train less, so your muscles have time to refuel.

--No last-minute efforts to lose body fat. That will result in poorly fueled muscles. You may actually gain two to four pounds of water weight! For each one ounce of carbs you store in your muscles as glycogen, you store about three ounces of water. Thisis a sign you are well fueled.

--Eat wisely and well this week. Focus each meal on carbs (grains, fruits, veggies) with a little protein (meat, nuts, eggs, beans, milk, yogurt) as the accompaniment to each meal.

--Eat breakfast on marathon morning … this food will help maintain a normal blood sugar level so your brain is adequately fed. If your blood sugar drops, you’ll have trouble concentrating and enjoying the event.

During the marathon, your nutrition job is to:

-- prevent dehydration (by drinking 8 ounces of sports drink and/or water every 15-20 minutes during the marathon)

-- maintain a normal blood sugar level (by consuming 150 to 300 calories of carbohydrates every hour after the first 60 to 90 minutes of running).

Some popular energizers for during the marathon include sports drinks, gummi bears, raisins, hard candies, gels, Tootsi rolls, defizzed cola, diluted juice, bites of a sports bar--all of which you should have experimented with during your long training runs.  

Here are some high carbohydrate meal suggestions that will cummulate into a high carbohdyrate diet that will help fuel you to the finishline!

Breakfast ideas:

cold cereals--with banana and lowfat or skim milk

oatmeal and other hot cereals--with raisins and brown sugar

Bagels and english muffins--with jam or honey

Pancakes or french toast--with maple syrup

Fruits and juices

Lunch ideas:

Sandwiches--with the bread being the "meat" of the sandwich

Hearty broth-based or beany soups--minestrone, split pea, lentil, noodle

Thick-crust pizza

Dinner ideas:

Pasta--with tomato-based sauce

Potatoes and rice--double portions

Vegetables--double portions

Breads, rolls

Snack ideas:

flavored yogurt

pretzels, crackers,

fig bars, zweiback, lowfat cookies, animal crackers

frozen yogurt

dry cereal

leftover pasta

canned and fresh fruits and juices, applesauce

For more complete information about fueling before, during and after a marathon, refer to .

Nancy Clark’s Food Guide for Marathoners; Tips for Everyday Champions

Have fun!

Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD

Lunch logistics tend to be a hassle:

     - If you pack your own lunch, what do you pack?

     - If you buy lunch, what's a healthful bargain?

     - If you are on a diet, what's best to eat?

The following tips may help you improve your lunch intake.

Brown bag lunches

People who make their own lunch commonly end up packing the same food every day, and end up with yet-another turkey sandwich, yet-another salad, or yet-another bagel. As long as you are content with this repetitive diet, fine; just be sure to get more variety in the other meals. But if you're tired of the same stuff, consider these suggestions:

• The best lunches, nutritionally speaking, include at least 500 calories (even if you are on a reducing diet) from THREE types of food at lunch. This means bagel + yogurt + banana, or salad + turkey + pita. Just a bagel or just a salad is likely too little fuel.

• Enjoy peanut butter. Peanut butter is a great food for active people (even those on a diet) because it “sticks to the ribs” and keeps you fueled for the whole afternoon. Yes, peanut butter may be have more calories than does a turkey sandwich, but the satisfying PB sandwich allows you to nix the cookies and other afternoon snacks. You’ll end up saving calories in the long run.

• Pack planned-overs from dinner and heat them in the microwave oven. They're preferable to the cup-of-noodles that cost more than they're worth.

Fast food lunches.

When you're grabbing lunch at a quick service restaurant, look for the lower fat options, such as––

• the BK Broiler chicken sandwich (without mayo) + lowfat milk + apple (brought from home)

• McDonald's grilled chicken (w/o mayo) + vanilla shake

• two of Taco Bell's bean burritos + diet soft drink

• 2 slices of veggie pizza (blot off the grease with a napkin)

Cafeteria lunches

If you are lucky enough to have a cafeteria at work, or are eating a business lunch in a restaurant, take advantage of this opportunity to have a well balanced hot meal. Enjoying a nice dinner at noontime:

1) fuels you for a high energy afterwork exercise session,

2) simplifies your evening meal––you'll feel less hungry and may be content to enjoy a bowl of cereal or a sandwich,

3) reduces afternoon hunger and vending machine raids.

Lunch for dieters:

Overweight people commonly hesitate to eat much lunch when other people are around. Sad statement, but never-the-less true in our society––and a big mistake. A good lunch can help you be more effective at work, feel less hungry in the afternoon, and be less likely to raid the refrigerator the minute you arrived home. Lunch helps you lose weight. Do not skip it!

Nancy, I am training for my first marathon and am starting to get to the point where I am out on my runs for over an hour. I am trying to figure out what products I should be consuming to keep up my energy levels and keep me hydrated at the same time.

Answer: First off, congrats on your hard work and dedication to your training program.

I am glad you asked about how to fuel during long runs, because fueling is an important part of your training program. You need to train your intestinal tract, as well as your heart, lungs and muscles. Too many marathons are needlessly lost in the porta-potties…

You can experiment with standard foods (gummy candy, twizzlers, dried pineapple, rice crispy treats, fig newtons, pretzels) or “products” like gels, bloks, or sports beans. There is nothing magic about the engineered foods, other than convenience and portability.

Before the long run, you want to eat a small meal that will settle well during the long run (oatmeal, bagel, pasta). That food will keep you energized for about 60 to 90 minutes. Then, you want to target about 200 to 300 calories per hour (depending on your body size). While some (or all) of those calories can come from a sports drink, you can also drink plain water and get carbs with the suggestions listed above.

You might want to go to the website of your event and see what food/fluids they will offer on the course. By training with them, you'll know what ones work for your body.

Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD

Question:

I am a novice runner and I got woken at 3:00 a.m. with muscle cramps in my calves. How can I avoid these in the future?

Answer:

While some people think muscle cramps are due to low potassium and recommend eating potassium-rich bananas as the solution, I question if that is the only answer. Certainly, eating bananas is always a good idea. But I doubt if the muscle cramp is due to low potassium. That would require an incredible amount of sweat loss. Novice runners usually cannot exercise long enough to deplete themselves of potassium.

Here's how a few popular sports foods compare in potassium content:

Potential potassium loss in a two hour workout: 300 to 800 mg

Potassium in 8 ounces of Gatorade: 30 mg

Potassium in one medium banana: 450 mg

Potassium in 8 ounces of orange juice: 475 mg.

Potassium in 8 ounces yogurt: 520 mg.

You might want to try:

-- stretching more after you exercise.

-- drinking enough fluids so you are urinating every two to four hours of the daytime (a sign you are well hydrated). \

-- consuming at least two to three cups of milk or yogurt a day. (That's the amount you need to get adequate calcium for your bones, to say nothing of for your muscles.)

Some people anecdotally report calcium helps resolve muscle cramps.

Hope this helps,

Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD

Certified Specialist in Sports Dietietics

Author, Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook.